Efforts to bring glitzy new graphics to Linux are fueling an old conflict: Does proprietary software belong in open-source Linux? The issue involves software modules called drivers, which plug into the kernel at the heart of the open-source operating system. Drivers let software communicate with hardware such as network adapters, hard drives and video cards.

That's irrelevant to the discussion. No one's going to say that Mac OSX is "not ready for the desktop" or that it "privileges politics over ease-of-use", and yet its market share is roughly the same as that of Linux.

I never said catering to the majority of users WILL gain you marketshare.

Catering to the majority means a lot of things, and one issue is providing a better experience out of the box (do you want to argue that not having propietary drivers available because of principle is a better user experience?) by allowing propietary drivers. That's perfectly relevant.